1. Field
The disclosure relates to read/write chips for hard disc drives (HDDs) and, more specifically but not exclusively, to the optimization of channels, such as read, write, and/or servo channels, for HDD read/write chips.
2. Description of the Related Art
This section introduces aspects that may help facilitate a better understanding of embodiments of the invention. Accordingly, the statements of this section are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is prior art or what is not prior art.
In a hard disc drive (HDD), the write channel of a read/write chip generates a write signal that a write head uses to store data onto an associated hard disc, an associated read head subsequently generates a read signal corresponding to that stored data, and the read channel of the read/write chip converts that read signal into a recovered data signal that ideally accurately reflects the data stored on the hard disc. A conventional HDD read/write chip implements parameter-driven read-channel processing whose parameter values can be configured, e.g., by the chip manufacturer and/or by the chip manufacturer's customer who assembles the chip into an HDD. The channel processing of a conventional HDD read/write chip can be optimized using off-chip electronics (e.g., programmable processor-based test equipment) that analyze the recovered data signals (and possibly other chip I/O (input/output) data that is accessed off chip via customer-available I/O ports of the chip's user interface) for different sets of channel parameter values to determine an optimal set of channel parameter values for that chip. Such off-chip electronics are typically implemented as a programmable processor executing software and/or firmware designed to perform the optimization analysis for the channel processing.